Infection and Infertility in Mares

In cyclic mares, the uterine environment can easily disturbed due to inflammatory processes that occur secondary to microbial invasion. Different aerobic and anaerobic bacteria can enter the uterus during natural mating, artificial insemination, reproductive examination or parturition. The postpartum period is a critical phase since due to relaxation of the uterus and cervix may favor recurrent infections air intake (pneumovagina) or urine collection in mares with poor perineal conformation. Infections are mainly caused by opportunistic or commensal microorganisms, such as Streptococcus zooepidemicus, hemolytic Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Other microorganisms like Taylorella equigenitalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomona aeruginosa are transmitted through venereal route. Regarding to the fungal endometritis, the most common fungi include Candida and Aspergillus. These microorganisms cause infertility as a result of repeated inseminations during the breeding season and proliferate when the natural immune system is weakened in mares with advanced age and multiparous, or after repeated use of antibiotics. Indeed, in susceptible mare to endometritis, uterine defense mechanisms involving phagocytosis and opsonization by neutrophils, local synthesis of antibodies, mucociliary activity, vascular and myoelectric activity permeability are compromised, leading to fluid accumulation in response to inflammation and infertility

Pregnancy Loss in Mares

The reasons concerning losses during the first months of pregnancy has special importance in equine reproduction. Most of these losses occur early in pregnancy and around 15-20% of mares that conceive will lose the embryo before day 50. Early pregnancy loss is generally characterized by the sudden disappearance of the embryonic vesicle and is due to different reasons. Several etiologies factors involving both the mother and the embryo as, inflammatory and non-inflammatory endometrial disease, progesterone insufficiency, maternal age, lactation, site of intrauterine fixation of the embryonic vesicle, stress, plane of nutrition, season or climate, chromosome abnormalities or oocyte quality are some of the factor listed. Abortion occurs from the first month of pregnancy to full term and may be have an infectious or not origin. Causes of abortion include viral or bacterial infections, ingestion of mycotoxins, stress, gene mutations, Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, lack of sufficient nutrients and umbilical cord abnormalities. Some mares will show signs of impending abortion but other mares will abort without warning. Premature labor, discomfort, unusual activity or having a vulvar discharge of the mare require immediate attention. Pregnancy failure in mares represents a serious economic damages, expectations, and potential genetic improvement. Therefore is absolutely important that all losses are assessed for giving an appropriate treatment, and for preventing current and future losses

Liver metabolism traits in two rabbit lines divergently selected for intramuscular fat

[EN] Intramuscular fat (IMF) has a large effect in the sensory properties of meat because affects tenderness, juiciness and flavour. A divergent selection experiment for IMF in Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle was performed in rabbits. As liver is the major site of lipogenesis in rabbits, the objective of this work is to study the liver metabolism in the two rabbit lines selected for high and low IMF. Intramuscular fat content, perirenal fat weight, liver weight, liver lipogenic activities and plasma parameters related to liver metabolism were measured in the eight generation of selection. Direct response on IMF was 0.34 g /100 g of LD, which represented 2.7 SD of the trait, and selection showed a positive correlated response in the perirenal fat weight. High-IMF line showed greater liver size and greater liver lipogenic activities of enzymes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme (EM), although the difference between lines for EM activity was not relevant, whereas we did not find differences between lines for fatty acid synthase lipogenic activity. With regard to plasma parameters, low-IMF line showed greater plasma concentration of triglycerides, cholesterol, bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase than high-IMF line, whereas high-IMF line showed greater albumin and alanine transaminase concentrations, and all the differences between lines were relevant except for cholesterol concentration. We did not observe differences between lines for glucose, total protein and plasma concentrations. Phenotypic correlations between fat (IMF and perirenal fat weight) and liver traits suggested that liver lipogenesis affects fat deposition in both, muscle and carcass. None of the plasma parameters measured was strongly correlated with IMF.This work was supported by project AGL2014-55921-C2-01-P from the Spanish National Research Plan. M.M.A. acknowledges a FPI (grant no: BES-2012-052655) from the Economy Ministry of Spain. The authors thank Federico Pardo for its technical assistance.Martinez Alvaro, M.; Paucar, Y.; Satué, K.; Blasco Mateu, A.; Hernández, P. (2018). Liver metabolism traits in two rabbit lines divergently selected for intramuscular fat. animal. 12(6):1217-1223. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731117002695S1217122312

Multiple Myeloma in Horses, Dogs and Cats: A Comparative Review Focused on Clinical Signs and Pathogenesis

Multiple myeloma (MM) or plasma cell myeloma is a neoplastic proliferation of plasma cells that primarily involves the bone marrow but may originate from extramedullary sites [1-4]. Although it is uncommon in veterinary medicine, it has been reported in several species, including cats, dogs and, horses. The frequency of MM in cats is slightly <1% of all malignant neoplasms. Canine MMs account for only 0.3% of all malignancies in dogs. MMs account approximately 2% of all hematopoietic neoplasms in both dogs and cats. Most of the reports in the literature are limited to 1 to 16 case studies. However, in a recent report regarding the incidence of bone disorders diagnosed in dogs, MM was the second most frequently diagnosed neoplastic condition in canine bone marrow.Fil: Muñoz, A.. No especifíca;Fil: Riber, C.. No especifíca;Fil: Satué, K.. No especifíca;Fil: Trigo, Pablo Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Gómez Díez, M.. No especifíca;Fil: Castejón, F.M.. No especifíca

Overexpression of α(1,3)-fucosyltransferase VII is sufficient for the acquisition of lung colonization phenotype in human lung adenocarcinoma HAL-24Luc cells

Metastatic human lung adenocarcinoma HAL-8Luc cells display an enhanced expression of alpha(1,3)-fucosyltransferases (alpha(1,3)-Fuc-Ts) compared with their non-metastatic counterpart HAL-24Luc cells. This correlates with an increased surface expression of Lewis(x) (Le(x))- and Lewis(a) (Le(a))-related molecules and an in vitro enhanced adhesive capacity to E-selectin-expressing endothelial cells (Martin-Satué et al (1998). Cancer Res 58: 1544-1550). In the present work we have stably transfected HAL-24Luc cells with the cDNAs for the alpha(1,3)-Fuc-TIV and VII enzymes and analysed by flow cytometry the expression of Le(x), sialyl-Le(x), sialyl-Le(x) dimeric, Le(a) and sialyl-Le(a). Fuc-TVII transfectants exclusively overexpress sialyl-Le(x) while Fuc-TIV-transfected cells only overexpress the Le(x) oligosaccharide. We show that solely Fuc-TVII transfectants are able to adhere to interleukin-1beta-stimulated HUVEC monolayers. We also demonstrate that Fuc-TVII overexpression in HAL-24Luc cells is sufficient for the acquisition of the lung colonization phenotype. This is the first report directly showing the contribution of an alpha(1,3)-Fuc-T to the metastatic behaviour of human lung adenocarcinoma cells

Effect of Skin Wine Pomace and Sulfite on Protein Oxidation in Beef Patties During High Oxygen Atmosphere Storage

Meat storage in high oxygen atmosphere has been reported to induce protein oxidation reactions decreasing meat quality. The incorporation of antioxidants has been proposed to reduce the extent of these reactions. In this study, the ability of red and white skin wine pomaces as well as sulfites to inhibit protein oxidation were tested in beef patties stored for up to 15 days at 4 °C in a high oxygen atmosphere (70 % O2 and 30 % CO2). SO2 (300 ppm) effectively protected against protein oxidation measured as radical formation by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, as thiol loss by the DTNB assay and as myosin heavy chain (MHC) disulfide crosslinking by SDS-PAGE. Pomace from red wine production with a total phenol of 9.9 mg gallic acid equivalent/g protected against protein radical formation and against MHC crosslinking, but not against thiol loss by addition of 2.0 % (w/w) to the beef patties. Pomace from white wine production with a total phenol of 4.0 mg gallic acid equivalent/g only protected against MHC cross-linking. For both types of wine pomace, protein modifications not seen for sulfite addition were observed and were proposed to involve covalent phenol addition to proteins. Red wine pomace may be an alternative to sulfite as a meat additive for protection of beef patties against protein oxidation.Autonomous Government of Castilla y León through the research projects (BU268A11-2 and BU282U13) and the Danish Council for Independent Research |Technology and Production within the Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation for granting the project entitled: BAntioxidant mechanisms of natural phenolic compounds against protein cross-link formation in meat and meat systems^ (11-117033)

Thyroid evaluation in suspicious hypothyroid adult dogs before and after treatment

The purpose of this study was to measure circulating TSH, T4 and fT4 concentrations in dogs submitted to a clinical visit for general symptoms (weight gain, polyuria and polydipsia, changes in hair coat). Twenty-eight dogs, 14 cross-breed and 14 purebreds (Golden Retriever, Labrador, Doberman), of both sexes (14 males and 14 females), aged 8 to 14 years, were assessed. No significant differences of circulating TSH, T4, fT4 concentrations between the baseline and after therapeutic treatment nor between intact and neutered females were observed. Compared to baseline values, intact males showed higher TSH concentrations (p&lt;0.01), and castrated males lower TSH concentrations (p&lt;0.01) after therapeutic treatment. Compared to intact males, castrated males showed baseline TSH concentrations higher (p&lt;0.01), but lower (p&lt;0.01) after therapeutic treatment. No significant differences of T4 and fT4 concentrations between baseline conditions and after therapeutic treatment, nor between intact and castrated males, were observed. The experimental sample considered in this study falls within that casuistry involving elevated TSH concentrations but low serum T4 and fT4 concentrations or close to the minimum physiological cut-off, in which the common clinical signs suggestive of hypothyroidism was, essentially, overweight and neglected appearance of the hair